September 18, 2012 1:37am EDTSeptember 17, 2012 2:38pm EDTThe Texas Rangers, with Washington ties of their own, passed the Nationals in this week's Sporting News MLB power rankings. Could the division leaders wind up meeting next month in the World Series?

Forty-one years ago this week, American League owners approved the Washington Senators' move to Texas and rebirth as the Rangers.

You know the story line would receive big play if the Rangers and Washington Nationals end up meeting in the World Series. Such a meeting is as likely as any, given the two clubs own the best records in their respective leagues. For now, though, the story is that the Rangers have ended the Nationals’ five-week run atop the Sporting News’ power rankings.

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RISERS

Texas Rangers. It took being swept by the Braves for the Nationals to drop a spot in the rankings, and the Rangers proved worthy of taking over No. 1 after winning home series against the Indians and Mariners.

You get the feeling the two-time A.L. champs are starting to smell October. They have built a four-game advantage for top seed in the A.L. and their big guns are stepping up. Matt Harrison won twice and Yu Darvish turned in another strong outing last week, serving notice that they Rangers have at least two candidates worthy of starting Game 1 in the playoffs. Offensively, Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre have emerged as the game’s top 3-4 duo by combining for 14 homers and 22 RBIs in the team’s 15 games this month.

The Rangers won’t be able to coast if they want home-field advantage in the A.L. playoffs, not to mention a third straight A.L. West title. Thirteen of their final 16 games are against the Athletics and Angels, beginning Tuesday with a three-game series in Anaheim.

Oakland Athletics. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s time to stop waiting for the A’s to falter. Nothing slows these guys, not suspensions, not injuries, not a brutal schedule. In yet another impressive week, they took three of four at the Angels and two of three against the Orioles. They continue their 23-game stretch against contenders with series at Detroit and the Yankee this week. Then they come home for four games against the Rangers, whom they trail by just three games.

Strikeouts. When the Brewers set a club record for striking out opposing hitters Sunday, hardly anyone noticed. That’s in large part because everybody seems to be setting strikeout records these days. The Tigers are another that already has set a club record and they don’t even lead the A.L. in strikeouts. This will be the fifth straight year that the overall strikeout record will be broken across the majors. Pitchers are striking out 7.54 batters per nine innings, up from last year’s record 7.13.

FALLERS

Tampa Bay Rays. A 1-5 trip to Baltimore and New York has reduced the Rays to talking about last year’s amazing run to the post-season. They have fallen from one to four games out in the wild-card race, and need a 2011-type finish to reach the post-season again. The Rays trailed the Red Sox by 3.5 games at this point in 2011.

Their popgun offense wasn’t all that let them down last week. Rookie lefty Matt Moore lost both of his starts while lasting a total of seven innings and allowing seven earned runs. For the week, the Rays’ 4.42 ERA ranked 24th in the majors. Their offense didn’t pick up the slack. The Rays scored 19 runs and hit .217, including a dismal 8-for-41 showing with runners in scoring position.

Los Angeles Dodgers. A 5-2, 12-inning loss to the Cardinals on Sunday left L.A. hurting in more than one way. First, in the standings. A win would have allowed the Dodgers to depart on a week-long trip to Washington and Cincinnati with a one-game lead in the race for the second wild card. Instead, they are one back.

In the field, Matt Kemp continues to feel the effects of running into a wall last month. He is hitting .113 in 53 at-bats with 17 strikeouts since the collision. In the 10th inning Sunday, the Cardinals intentionally walked Andre Ethier to face Kemp with the bases loaded, and he flied out.

Most painful could be the loss of Clayton Kershaw. He missed his scheduled start on Sunday and could be lost for the season because of a hip injury. Kershaw is seeking a second opinion on whether he needs surgery to repair the labrum in his right hip. If he does, he will be done for the season. The Dodgers’ post-season chances likely would be, too.

Jose Valverde. Anyone annoyed by Valverde’s exaggerated post-save histrionics—believe me, A.J. Pierzynski isn’t the only one—could gloat on Sunday. With his holding a one-run lead against the struggling Indians, Valverde gave up a double, triple, two intentional walks and a single and cost the Tigers a much-needed victory. Nobody expected him to go 100 percent on saves like he did last year but he’s blown five saves as his strikeouts have gone done and opponents’ batting average has gone up. Valverde had pitched better in the second half but has allowed runs in fourth of his eight outings this month.